Austin Hooper signs four-year deal with Browns

The Cleveland Browns have signed tight end Austin Hooper to a four-year deal worth $44 million with $23 million guaranteed.

This was a move that many hoped would happen, but were unsure if it would actually happen. The Cleveland Browns have upgraded the tight end position by signing free agent Austin Hooper to a four-year deal.

The Browns are making Hooper the highest-paid player at the position. Making players the highest-paid player at the position via free agency rarely works out, but it is worth nothing that Cleveland has to overpay to get any sort of quality players to come to town. Austin Hooper spent the first four years of his career with the Atlanta Falcons, catching 214 passes for 2,224 yards, and 16 touchdowns.

This addition does bring into question the future of David Njoku. Hooper is everything that Njoku was supposed to be and now that he signed a large contract, could push Njoku out of town. The constant discussion about Njoku is about upside, potential, physical gifts, etc. At some point they actually have to amount to something. Even when Njoku had his “good year” in 2018 he still dropped passes and struggled in the blocking department. It would be wise for the Browns to shop Njoku to teams in need of tight end help and try to recoup something of value one way or another.